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Ottawa - Approximately forty Members of Parliament and Senators from all parties gathered in Ottawa on Tuesday evening to elect a new Executive for the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group. This unprecedented number elected Borys Wrzesnewskyj, MP (Etobicoke Centre) Chair of the Group.

Executive of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group

Mr. Wrzesnewskyj enthusiastically noted that:

"It is encouraging to see approximately forty parliamentarians from all parties, representing all regions of the country, joining together in the interest of promoting relations between Canada and Ukraine. Canada has long enjoyed a 'special relationship' with Ukraine based on the hundreds of thousands of family ties between our two countries. The goodwill of our relationship was further strengthened with Canada's strong support of the 'Orange Revolution' elections in Ukraine through a number of unanimously supported parliamentary motions and through our Canada Corps project. With this revived Parliamentary Friendship Group, we have yet another vehicle to evolve our 'special relationship' into a 'strategic relationship'."

Wrzesnewskyj stressed that he is looking forward to working closely with Members of the new Executive, and that his personal relationships with Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko will help Canada foster stronger ties with Ukraine.

The new Executive of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group includes:

Borys Wrzesnewskyj, MP (Lib) - Chair

Walt Lastewka, MP (Lib) - Vice Chair (Government)

Inky Mark, MP (Con) - Vice Chair (Opposition)

Sen. Raynell Andreychuk (Con) - Vice Chair (Senate)

Sen. Consiglio Di Nino (Con) - Treasurer

Eleni Bakopanos, MP (Lib) - Secretary
Directors:

Sen. Jerry Grafstein (Lib),

Judy Wasylycia-Leis, MP (NDP),

Bernard Bigras, MP (Bloc), Peter Goldring, MP (Con),

Joy Smith, MP (Con),

Hon. David Kilgour, PC, MP (Lib)

Wrzesnewskyj concluded by saying that he intends on being a pro-active Chair and will convene a meeting of the Group for early April to set an aggressive agenda for advancing relations between Canada and Ukraine.